Electric stepladder

ABSTRACT

A self-standing, collapsible stepladder including laterally spaced side members or rails supporting therebetween a platform for movement up and down along the rails for raising and lowering a load, and having actuating means accessible to an operator on the platform.

United States Patent Cecere, Jr.

[ Mar. 26, 1974 ELECTRIC STEPLADDER Joseph A. Cecere, Jr., 736 Landis Ave., Vineland, NJ. 08360 Filed: Dec. 1, 1972 Appl. No.: 311,224

Related U.S. Application Data 272,114, July 17,

Inventor:

Division of Ser. No. 1972,

abandoned.

U.S. Cl 182/145, 182/103, 182/148 Int. Cl. E06c 7/12 Field of Search 182/103, 104, 141, 148,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1/1970 Foley 182/103 3,115,211 12/1963 Ostrander 182/103 1,794,175 2/ 1 931 Honig 3,596,736 8/1971 Crewford..

3,430,734 3/1969 Embree.....

Bennett 182/166 Primary Examiner--Reinaldo P. Machado [57] ABSTRACT A self-standing, collapsible stepladder including laterally spaced side members or rails supporting therebetween a platform for movement up and down along the rails for raising and lowering a load, and having actuating means accessible to an operator on the platform.

7 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PATENTEUHARZG 1914 ELECTRIC STEPLADDER CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation-in-part of my now abandoned copending application Ser. No. 272,114, filed July 17, I972 entitled LADDER.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is, therefore, an important object of the present invention to provide a powered stepladder of the type described, which overcomes the foregoing difficulties, is extremely simple in construction, for economy in manufacture and maintenance, highly reliable throughout a long useful life, and very conveniently operable by persons of all ages without training or experience.

It is still a further object of the present invention to provide an electric stepladder having the advantageous characteristics mentioned in the preceding paragraphs, which is readily portable for erection at any desired location, while being adapted for permanent or semipermanent installation, if desired, and being capable or raising and lowering substantial'loads under conditions of safety, for transportation of goods as well as persons.

Other objects of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following specification and referring to the accompanying drawings, which form a material part of this disclosure.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangements of parts, which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter described, and of which the scope will be indicated by the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a front elevational view showing a powered stepladder constructed in accordance with the teachings of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional elevational view taken generally along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken generally along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now more particularly to the drawings, and specifically to FIGS. 1 and 2 thereof, an electric stepladder of the present invention is there illustrated and generally designated 10. The stepladder construction includes a pair of laterally spaced, upstanding frame members, rails or side members 11 and 12. The side members 11 and 12 may extend in general parallelism with each other, obliquely upward, as best seen in FIG.

2, each being provided on its inner or facing side with a longitudinally extending way means, groove or track, as at I3 and 14, see FIGS. 2 and 3. The lower ends of the side members or rails Ill and 12 may be connected together by a crosspiece or frame member 16, see FIGS. 1 and 2.

Extending laterally across and secured to the upper end of the side members or rails II and 12 is an upper frame member or top piece 17. The upper frarhe member or top piece 17 is disposed generally horizontally in its operative, erected condition, as seen in FIGS. I and 2, and may extend rearwardly beyond'the side members 11 and 12 for the purpose appearing presently.

Depending from the rearward region of the top piece 17 may be a prop structure or strut means 118, which may assume any suitable construction, say that of a pair of parallel strut members depending obliquely from the rearward region of top piece 17 in downwardly diverging relation with respect to the rails 11 and 12. The strut means or prop structure 18 is advantageously pivotally connected to the top piece 17, to permit of swinging movement of the strut means 18 toward the side members 11 and 12 to a collapsed position. That is, the strut means 18 is swingably connected to the side members or rails 11 and 12 for relative swinging movement between a collapsed condition with the strut means in proximate, generally parallel relation with the side members, and an operative or erected condition with the strut means depending in divergent relation from the side members. In the latter condition, the lower ends of the strut means 18, as well as the side members 11 and I2 may all engage with a suitable supporting or ground surface to stably maintain the structure in an upstanding condition.

In order to limit relative swinging movement between the strut means 18 and side members or rails 11 and 12, there may be provided one or more pivoted linkage, as at 20, connected between the strut means and side rails to limit outward swinging movement thereof. Thus, the condition shown in FIG. 2 is that of the operationalor erected condition with the strut means l8'swung outwardly to its limiting position away from the side members l1 and 12.

Extending laterally between the side members or rails II and 12, being disposed generally horizontally, is a platform or step 22. That is, the platform or step 22 is of a generally rectangular laterally elongate configuration having its opposite end regions proximate to respective side members 11 and 12. Provided on opposite ends of the horizontal platform or step 22 are guide members, slides or runners 23 and 24, respectively. In particular, as best seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, it will be apparent that the guide members or runners 23 and 24 project transversely from opposite ends of the step member or platform 22, the runners extending upwardly in parallelism with each other and each being movably received in a respective guideway or groove 13 and 14. In this manner, the generally rectangular platform or step 22 is mounted by the interacting relationship of the side member guideways or tracks 13 and 14 movably receiving the respective platform or step guide members, slides or runners 23 and 24, so that the platform or step is mounted for up-and-down movement along the side members or rails 11 and 12 while extending generally horizontally therebetween.

In order to power the up-and-down movement of the platform or step 22, there is provided motive means 26,

which may assume the form of an electric motor 27 suitably fixed to the underside of the top piece 17 as by a motor mounting bracket 28. The motor 27 is oriented generally forwardly and rearwardly, and a generally forwardly projecting drive shaft 29 extends into the space between side members or rails 11 and 12, just below the top piece 17. That is, the motor shaft 27 projects forwardly into an uppermost region of the space between side members 11 and 12. One or more pulleys, sheaves or drums 30, 31 may be mounted on the shaft 29 and provided with respective cables 32 and 33 connected to the platform or step 22. Thus, upon rotation of the motor shaft 29, the platform or step 22 is moved vertically, opposite directional shaft rotation effecting opposite or up and down platform movement. For this purpose, the motor 27 may be reversible, or other suitable means provided for reversing the direction of the platform 22. Extending along respective side members or rails 11 and 12 are safety members or hand rails 11a and 12a.

The motor 27 may be electrically powered, as by a power line 35 connected to a suitable source of power (not shown). Operation of the motor 27 may be effected by suitable actuating means, such as a switch 36. For convenience, the switch 36 may be mounted on the platform 22, or otherwise suitably mounted for movement in predetermined relation with respect to platform movement. This affords the convenience of access to the switch 36 to an operator on the platform 22 at any position of the platform. If desired, the switch 36 may be foot-operated, or may be located at an elevation spaced above the platform 22 for more convenient manual actuation. Extending between the electric motor 27 and actuating switch 36 is the required electric cord 37. The cord 37 may be of an extensile and retractile character, say being resiliently spiraled, or coilable upon an automatic coiling mechanism 38, which may be carried by the motor, or otherwise located.

From the foregoing, it will now be appreciated that the present invention provides'an electric stepladder which is extremely simple in construction for ease and convenience in operation, entirely reliable for effective operation throughout a long useful life, and which otherwise fully accomplishes its intended objects.

Although the present invention has been described in some detail by way of illustration and example for purposes of clarity of understanding, it is understood that certain changes and modifications may be made within the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. An electric stepladder comprising a'pair of laterally spaced upstanding side members, a top piece extending between upper regions of said side members, strut means depending from said top piece for stably maintaining said side members in oblique upstanding relation on a supporting surface, track means extending longitudinally along said side members, a horizontal .platform extending laterally between said side members, mounting means mounting said platform on said track means for up and down movement along said side members in generally horizontal disposition therebetween, rotary winch means mounted laterally medially beneath said top piece having its axis generally normal to the plane of said side members, flexible line means coiled about said winch means and connected to a medial region of said platform for raising and lowering the latter upon winch rotation generally through the center of gravity of the platform, drive means connected to said winch means for rotating the latter and effecting said up and down movement, and actuating means for selectively actuating said drive means to raise and lower said platform and a load thereon.

2. An electric stepladder according to claim 1, in combination with pivotal connection means connecting said side members to said strut means for swinging movement between a collapsed position with said strut means adjacent to said side members and an open position with said strut means spaced from said side members.

3. An electric stepladder according to claim 1, said track means comprising way means on said side members lying in a plane passing generally longitudinally medially through said platform, and said mounting means comprising guide members on said platform constraining the latter to movement along said way means.

4. An electric stepladder according to claim 3, said guide means comprising runners on opposite sides of said platform for respective sliding movement along said way means.

5. An electric stepladder according to claim 1, said drive means comprising an electric motor, and switch means electrically connected to said motor for selectively operating the latter.

6. An electric stepladder according to claim 5, said switch means being mounted for movement with said platform for convenient access thereto by an operator on said platform.

7. An electric stepladder according to claim 6, in combination with electric cord means extending between said motor and switch means, and fixed extensile and retractile means for coiling and uncoiling said cord means upon platform movement relative to said motor. 

1. An electric stepladder comprising a pair of laterally spaced upstanding side members, a top piece extending between upper regions of said side members, strut means depending from said top piece for stably maintaining said side members in oblique upstanding relation on a supporting surface, track means extending longitudinally along said side members, a horizontal platform extending laterally between said side members, mounting means mounting said platform on said track means for up and down movement along said side members in generally horizontal disposition therebetween, rotary winch means mounted laterally medially beneath said top piece having its axis generally normal to the plane of said side members, flexible line means coiled about said winch means and connected to a medial region of said platform for raising and lowering the latter upon winch rotation generally through the center of gravity of the platform, drive means connected to said winch means for rotating the latter and effecting said up and down movement, and actuating means for selectively actuating said drive means to raise and lower said platform and a load thereon.
 2. An electric stepladder according to claim 1, in combination with pivotal connection means connecting said side members to said strut means for swinging movement between a collapsed position with said strut means adjacent to said side members and an open position with said strut means spaced from said side members.
 3. An electric stepladder according to claim 1, said track means comprising way means on said side members lying in a plane passing generally longitudinally medially through said platform, and said mounting means comprising guide members on said platform constraining the latter to movement along said way means.
 4. An electric stepladder according to claim 3, said guide means comprising runners on opposite sides of said platform for respective sliding movement along said way means.
 5. An electric stepladder according to claim 1, said drive means comprising an electric motor, and switch means electrically connected to said motor for selectively operating the latter.
 6. An electric stepladder according to claim 5, said switch means being mounted foR movement with said platform for convenient access thereto by an operator on said platform.
 7. An electric stepladder according to claim 6, in combination with electric cord means extending between said motor and switch means, and fixed extensile and retractile means for coiling and uncoiling said cord means upon platform movement relative to said motor. 